<p>No matter what kind of ribbons he takes home tonight, Shaw Cloud has already won.</p>
<p>A senior sprinter for Whiteland’s 19th-ranked boys track and field team, Cloud has fully recovered from a severe leg fracture that threatened his athletic career.</p>
<p>He sustained the injury during the football season and had surgery on his left leg on Sept. 5. He missed the rest of the football season and was a question mark for track.</p>
<p>But Shaw is back, better than ever, and looks to lead the host Warriors to the team championship at the Mid-State Conference Meet.</p>
<p>He will compete in the 100- and 200-meter dashes and run the first leg of the Warriors’ 4×400-meter relay, with teammates Jacob Walters, Brandon Patterson and Djimmon Ogega.</p>
<p>"This has been spectacular," said Cloud, who has come back after breaking the tibia and fibula in his left leg during a Week 3 football game against Decatur Central. "I never imagined this."</p>
<p>Cloud is enjoying the best track season of his high school career when for a time it appeared he might not run at all.</p>
<p>A running back for the Warriors football team, Cloud was carrying the ball early in the third quarter when a Hawks’ defender tripped him up.</p>
<p>He knew immediately his leg was broken.</p>
<p>Surgery to repair the leg was performed seven hours after the injury.</p>
<p>Eight months removed from surgery, Cloud is finding gears he never knew he had.</p>
<p>“This has definitely been my best track season. I’ve PR’d (personal record) in the 400 and in the 100," he said. "I’m running pretty much a half-second faster than I was in the 100 last year. I had no idea that was going to happen.</p>
<p>“I think actually breaking my leg, then having a rod put in there . . . then the rehab and building up my quad and my hamstring actually helped me. It all worked out.”</p>
<p>At the county meet, Cloud placed third in the 100, fourth in the 400 and was part of the Warriors’ runner-up 4×400.</p>
<p>Ranked in the top five academically in the senior class, Cloud maintains a 4.39 grade-point average and will play football in the fall at Hillsdale College, an NCAA Division II school in Michigan.</p>
<p>The same dedication that makes Cloud a good student is what has helped him through not one, but three injury comebacks.</p>
<p>As a sophomore, he broke his right fibula in two places during the football season. The following year he suffered a bruise to the top of his right foot during football.</p>
<p>Nothing has stopped him.</p>
<p>“I am absolutely amazed at the progress he’s made. When he broke his leg in September I didn’t think he was going to be able to run at all," Warriors coach Brandon Bangel said. "But his 100-meter personal best is better than it’s ever been.</p>
<p>“He went 11.37 at the county and looks better than he’s ever looked. I don’t know why or how, but it’s a pretty amazing story.”</p>[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="Shaw Cloud pullout" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p>THE CLOUD FILE</p>
<p>Name: Shaw Cloud</p>
<p>Age: 18</p>
<p>Born: Franklin</p>
<p>Family: Parents, Todd and Mary; brother, Grant, 15</p>
<p>Favorite TV show: “Impractical Jokers”</p>
<p>Favorite food: Scallops</p>
<p>Favorite movie: “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”</p>
<p>Favorite athlete: Peyton Manning</p>
<p>Favorite team: Indianapolis Colts</p>[sc:pullout-text-end]